Proteus is a game about exploration and immersion in a dream-like island world where the soundtrack to your play is created by your surroundings. Played in first-person, the primary means of interaction is simply your presence in the world and how you observe it.

Buy Proteus

Recommended By Curators

"A audiovisual soundscape that is a joy to explore."

Reviews

“In a way, its lack of progression – the absence of skill trees, difficulty levels and save points – works in its favour; you won’t dive back in to mop up the last few achievements, or to climb leaderboards, but simply because you want to play Proteus. Because you want to open your eyes and be up to your waist in seawater, to walk to shore and wander through fields that sing. And that’s an itch only Proteus can scratch.”
8/10 – Edge

“I come away from it feeling elated. And that makes Proteus feel very special to me. It’s such a pleasure knowing it will be the same for so many others.”
– Rock Paper Shotgun

“Its randomness and secrets make it worth playing through a few times, and beyond that, it's easy to imagine wanting to return to it just for respite from a stressful day or a noisy city.”
8/10 – The Guardian

“Proteus is beautiful, a beautiful thing. […]If it must be catgorised, Proteus perhaps is best filed alongside last year's similarly oblique but fascinating experimental games – Dear Esther and Journey.”
5/5 – Eurogamer

Steam Big Picture Mode

About This Game

Proteus is a game about exploration and immersion in a dream-like island world where the soundtrack to your play is created by your surroundings. Played in first-person, the primary means of interaction is simply your presence in the world and how you observe it. The procedurally generated islands are home to creatures natural and imagined, tranquil valleys and ruins with magical properties.

Key Features:

Meditative play: the responsive world and lack of any text or hints distils an essence of curious, investigative play, and rewards patience and immersion.

Dynamic soundtrack composed by award-winning musician David Kanaga follows the mood of the world and will appeal to fans of Boards of Canada, Brian Eno.

A distinctive 2D-but-3D graphical style with wild shifting palettes that sits somewhere between 8-bit videogames and early 20th century modernist painting.

Islands are uniquely generated every time, and although it's theoretically possible to see everything in one playthrough, no-one ever does.

Built-in "postcard" function encodes world data into each screenshot, allowing islands and discoveries to be saved and shared.

To some, Proteus is a very tranquil and peaceful first person experience, to others it might be dull and pointless. There is nothing really here other than exploring randomly generated islands all in a lo-fi pixelated setting. The game seems to have a base soundtrack of lo-fi synth beats that gets added to based on what you're currently looking at. Trees, bushes, insects, animals and tombstones will all form a melody as you walk by them.

There is no death in Proteus, just walking around. The islands seem small enough to be fully explored. If there are any caves, or underground areas, I haven't found them. Since this is an exploration game, there is only walking. There is a sit button, but there is no running, no jumping, and no zoom. No crafting, building or creativity, just walking.

You'll see day turn to night, the sun will set, and the moon will rise over the ocean. Summer will turn to fall, fall into winter. You can stand on mountains above rain clouds, or go down to be in the rain. You can see the stars begin to trip out and pulsate. Comets will fall from the sky and other seemingly random things. Plus portals that will suck energy orbs into them and warp you away to the next season.

While you won't die, there is an end to each game. Winter will lead to the end, a closing, a goodbye, but again there is always a new island to explore. Since the game generates different islands each time you play, one island can have an uncreepy graveyard, a circle of statues, a cabin, a bay full of crabs, a flock of chickens and another island can be seemingly barren. It is always a new trip to a different island.

When you evaluate whether or not to play Proteus, you need to evaluate what you're looking for. Are you looking for something to relax and zone out? Are you looking for a clear cut objective? No matter how hard you explore in Proteus, you won't find any objectives other than ones you set for yourself. Do I go over that mountain or do I follow that snow owl in the trees? The choice is yours. While someone might be able to get hours of exploring Proteus through dozens of different play throughs, but others might get bored after 5 minutes. You can complete the game in an hour, with fifteen minutes in each of the four seasons.

---- someone wanted me to return to Proteus again ----

This island isn't some haven or vacation. It is a gaming prison. No doors, no keys, no jumping, no running and no way off the island. Forced to spend a year in solitary confinement. Alone on an island, but yet not alone. There is the wildlife. Crabs on the ground, bees chasing me through the forest, a flock of chickens and an ominous snow owl that watches me from afar. These are my roommates. My only playthings on a bright and vibrant island.

This time on the island, I managed to find the circle of totems pretty quickly. Then I found a cabin on a peninsula. After that, I discovered the fat world tree and the squirrels that frolicked beside it. Its a beautiful place to be alone. In a way there were still others here, because tombstones littered the ground. Everything makes a sound. My walk, the crinkle of pixelated leaves, toads hopping away and even the stars themselves made a harmony.

Spring turned to summer. The bees were swarmed around various trees. Some may say that bees belong to the spring to pollinate flowers, but for anyone that's ever been to a theme park or opened a can of soda, they know that bees love the summer. I had completely explored the island thoroughly. At some point I just wandered along the sandy beach outline of the safe haven from hardcore games.

Fall rose before I knew it. Everything was orange and flaming red. The wildlife was on its back. This land was slowly dying and so was everything on it. There was a glimpse of what was to come. I saw trees with no leaves, brief glimpses of a red sky with swirling stars as if Armageddon was there. It was only a daydream it would seem. Everything returned back to normal with leaves on the trees and the clouds coming closer to the ground.

Winter came one night. The island was bleak and everything was dead with white snow. The leafless trees looked like giant thorn bushes. There were no animals. Nothing but me. I scoured the island, but found nothing but frost that covered the ground. An overcast sky shadowed the trees with a purple hue.

Then as I went to the cabin on the beach, I began to slowly drift away. No not into the water, but the sky. I was being pulled off the ground like I had the year prior in Proteus. Soon I was at the clouds themselves when I had just had my feet in the snow. Through the clouds I went, higher and higher, realizing that I had succumb to everyone's fate on Proteus. Up I went, looking at the stars ahead of me. Their light guiding me off the island. I was free again. My sentence was over. I had left Proteus behind. The time spent on Proteus had made me a calmer and better person. Goodbye my prison. I will never forget you!

Many seem to object to calling Proteus a "game", but they're wrong.Proteus captures many of the finest points of existence.I conveys exploration, discovery, inevitability of death, an awe of nature, nostalgia, and more.

I may not be a "gamer" but I love hiking and looking at the stars. I can tell the creators of Proteus do, too.

Give yourself 1.5 hours (won't take longer than that) and PLAY THIS THROUGH!! It is superb.

First, a great sense of imagination.Like in the Atari 8-bit era where everything is better defined by your mind, not the graphics. Where some jumping pixels beside you is actually a wild animal that just passed by. Where you're offered a gorgeous view in front of your eyes, but need a open mind to really SEE the view, and not the pixels representing it.In Skyrim, if you can feel the wind while looking at the horizon on top of a mountain, you may know what I mean.

(But if you're not able to understand any of this, "f@#% off back to Gears of War!")

Second, headphones. Without headphones the immersion is really compromised.

And that's it! Get yourself in a comfortable chair, a beverage/drink beside you, and take trip to Proteus. It probably won't last too long, but you'll be back if you've done things right.THE END

FORMAL review: Proteus is a first-person exploration game/experience. Take a look at settings, tweak the mouse sensitivity to your preferences and remember that "space" makes you sit and "F9" saves the island as a "postcard".

Proteus is a first-person exploration simulator. In it, you play as an individual who comes across an island, free of any other people but with plenty of wildlife. You explore it through both day and night of each of the seasons, enjoying the ambient music, changing weather, and various randomly generated locations on the island. As you explore, some of the wildlife will react to you, and the music/surroundings will change depending on the season, weather, time of day, and what's near.

This is a recommendation only based on whether or not that sounds interesting to the player. It's well done, and entertaining for what it is. It is, however, a style of game which likely has limited appeal.

I almost feel bad for marking this review as negative, because the game's art style is well done and nice to look at. However, if you're like me, you'll get bored of this game in about 10 minutes. Do not purchase this game unless you got it in a bundle. If you already have it in your library, you should try it and see if it helps you zone out for a bit.

This game is a little hard to explain. "Your daily random magical island in a box" is about as close I can get to it in a phrase.I find this game really... relaxing, honestly. I would definitely recommend it to nature lovers, and to people who need a way to just calm down and let their stress fall away. It has no plot, and is very peaceful. It randomly generates an island for you to explore each time you play. This island has a day and night cycle, weather, and seasons that you can change more or less at will -- but I won't spoil how yet. I really reccomend figuring out for yourself. whether you're looking for a beautiful game, a calming game, or a daily random magical island in a box, I wholeheartedly reccommend this game. I've been smiling and thinking about it the whole time I've been writing this.

Proteus is one of these games which look pretty but doesn't have any goal, some people might refer to it as an 'Art game'. The only thing you can do is explore the island, check out the beautiful surroundings and listen to some nice sounds.

So yes the game does look quite nice but that's about it. It doesn't mean I dont get 'art', I just think there should be more to it.

At the moment Proteus is 10 euro, which is expensive for a game you probably will only spend 15 minutes in.

I lost someone recently. In those first days full of grief and exhaustion from taking care of family matters, before I slept, I'd sit and try to play something to clear my mind. I didn't feel like playing my usual games. Not shooters, not puzzles, something where I could simply be transported somewhere nice.

First I thought of Bernband and Euro Truck Sim 2, but I didn't have them installed. I played Secret Habitat, I played Minecraft, and I played this game, Proteus (and a bit of its mod Purgateus).

It provides the simple pleasure of walking around in a cheerful, surprisingly interactive, rather mysterious place, rendered in fidelity low enough to let your imagination amplify it.

I've heard about and seen screenshots of many mechanics to discover, and even an end game of sorts. I haven't experienced most of them, though many patterns are now clear and I even found how to control the time of day. This is to say that there is just enough substance here to keep you interested, if you ever get bored of simply walking around.

It's a place to unwind, basically. I love walking around woods, but I don't have easy access to them.

Also, my two young nieces love watching me play it, and chasing frogs or owls or pointing at far away landmarks and getting there, talking about the cycle of night and day, about seasons, forests and animals and wandering.

Proteus isn't a game for everyone- or most people honestly. It's one of those things you'll either love or hate, perhaps similar to how people view Animal Crossing. Simply put, you walk around, see the sights and witness how things change through the seasons on a randomly generated island. Really it's about how you see it. There's no "plot" or objectives except what you make of it, there are little events and landmarks that you can find however. I'd recommend this game to people who just want to relax or do something calming. Honestly, whenever I play it invokes this sense of wanderlust and strange homesickness I'm not sure how to describe, but I personally keep coming back to now and again.

I wouldn't call it a game. But more of a 'proof of concept' tech demo of a sorts. Nothing to it, really. For what it is, I'd recommend it. But if you're looking for something to play, you're probably better off going elsewhere.

Proteus is about pretty colors, pretty sounds, and walking. A lot of walking. There's really not a whole lot of mechanics to speak out side of exploring a randomly generated world. As you explore, you can bump into random events and objects that through your "interactions" the music and sounds will change in response. The mechanic of the game is simply walking and exploring.

I think it would be pretty fair to say it's not a game for every one. For those who's used to mi-maxing, meta-gaming, or twitching through their games, you probably won't find Proteus all that appealing. But for those who like their games a little bit more light hearted, simpler, and rather relax when they game, Proteus might be an interesting choice.

The randomly generated worlds are quite pleasing on the eye with a fantastic art design behind it. It does 2.5D graphics expertly. The color pallet is very relaxing and appealing, and it even has dynamic weather effects. The sound and music are also equally praise worthy.

For those who don't mind minimal mechanics but really enjoy the exploration aspect of gaming, then I am please to let you know, Proteus does a great job and mixing the world up with each play through, almost always showing some new random thingy or McBobber to find in the world, and for the explorers out there, that might be enough to satisfy your gaming needs.

Overall Proteus shows an interesting concept and pushes the idea of "Non-game" games. It won't be for every one, but for those who might be interested in these sorts of games, Proteus is one of the best out there.

Is it "unique" and pretty? yes. Did it provide me any entertainment? No.

I enjoyed the visuals and sounds but they failed to draw me in. Everything to see is seen within the first of four seasons. Then you just circle around through three more waiting for Winter and the end. I didn't feel anything, experience anything, enjoy anything, or anything anything. There's no implied meaning. It feels more like a tech demo than whatever 'art' is to me. I'm guilty of owning too many Humble Bundles (if 'too many' is actually a 'thing'!) and thankfully this was amongst one of them because the asking price of $9.99USD is, to put it mildly, outrageous.

One reviewer did mention their small child enjoying the game and making up stories for it and I can definitely say that it would be a very simple interface for a small child (WASD + purposely input lagged mouse). And I believe the visuals and mood of the game would lend itself well to an imaginative small child. But no matter what my heart tells me, I'm 30, and don't possess that imagination any longer. I was dulled beyond belief after the first five minutes.

I awoke in gentle waters. In the distance, trees of all the colors of Easter dotted the coast. As I made for shore, I began to hear the song of spring, the humming of trees, the zimming of grass, the zooming of the falling petals and leaves. A playful pair of blue bunnies hopped away, their footsteps taking to ground like my fingers would the keys of a piano. White birds dashed from tree to to tree, with the faintest zips almost synthetic. Through a clearing, a council of feeding chickens scurrying off, my presence disturbing their time of fellowship. My feet found a dirt path, a path home perhaps, or to an adventure I had not yet known. A breeze of familiarity rose up as I neared the summit of green foothills. And there, surrounded by dozens of Sakura trees, a small cabin, the only evidence of human hands among the islands. I made it to the clearing, turned, and watched as hundreds of cherry blossoms fell to its rest, like a rain of pink champaign. In the twilight, I witnessed a blue moon rise, breaching the horizon over the vast, immeasurable sea. The day's song began to fade, to melt into the soft grip of that is night, to change keys and moods within mere moments. I laid under the Sakura trees, and watched the moon reach its dominion, shining with the whole of the galaxy behind it, cheering their young sister on. In the quiet music of the night, as the world completed its change to hues of white, blue, and black, and the horns and percussion that had ruled the day were hushed by the chords and strings of the evening, I closed my eyes; unware that when I woke I would bare witness to entirely different journey of melodies.